Thursday, October 18, 2012

A few years ago, I looked at the survivors of Carmine Street. It seemed at the time like this little stretch of the Village had been forgotten by development. Of course, that could not last forever. Change is barreling in with the distasteful news of an IHOP coming to Carmine Street (the broker who made the deal said, "People don’t even know where Carmine Street is — yet. We’ll fix that").

And now we hear that Unoppressive, Non-Imperialist Bargain Books is struggling--and doing what it takes to stay alive in this unfriendly atmosphere for bookstores and other independent businesses.

Reader Felix sent in a shot of the bookstore--now sharing its space with a Metro PCS to make ends meet. Wrote Felix, "This can’t be a good sign, and this is one of my favorite book stores."

For the next 26 days, the bookshop's owners team up with Lucky Ant--and with you--to help them stay strong on Carmine. Says the press release, "Jim Drougas and his wife Indiana have run Unoppressive, at 34 Carmine Street, for over 20 years. They are a highly curated independent bookstore that has and continues to cater to the west village arts community. Unlike other bookstores, Unoppressive is not going under, but they do sense that times are tough and want to plan for owning a bookstore in the 21st century market place."

Watch the video, visit the website, and pledge some cash to help the bookshop expand to remain in business. (You'll get a nice gift!) Keep the Village safe from total IHOP-ization.

If you don't know this store you should stop by and check it out. Their prices really are great and they are particularly strong on graphic novels, art books, humor (Python, etc.), literary bios, spirituality. This is the first place I start my holiday shopping. I am not a personal friend of these people, just a satisfied customer of many years.

Based on that pic, people who do stumble by Carmine would rather be consume cafe macchiatto melange latte galao viennois than books. Maybe Unopressive, Non-Imperialist Books should start serving cafe macchiatto melange latte galao viennois and cupcakes and macarons, like McNallys, to keep them afloat.

Just knowing that there are bookstores around gives me great comfort. I grew up in a small town in Connecticut with no bookstore, so it was a great relief to me when I moved to NYC - the content, atmosphere, even the mere presence of a bookstore is one of the factors I keep in mind when evaluating a town. This institution should be kept alive, as should bookstores in general - with the advent of e-readers, who knows where the fate of the bookstore is headed?

Maybe they should give up the other space they have next door that's barely open, that might save them a few thousand dollars a month. Did they ever think of that? I lived and worked on that block for over a dozen years, it's not all you think.

Would be great to know the name of this broker, maybe an website e-mail, or a phone number. So the long time residents can express their displeasure with the ridiculous iHop. The reason people who are smart have always known Carmine Street is because there was nothing like an iHop here. She calls it development? We call it "low rent". Another fool who thinks they know what is best for everyone else.

Help Us #SaveNYC

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